Do you like living in the shadow of all of those “gaps?” – SCN Encourager

No doubt you’re pretty good at it.

Most school leaders and communicators are.

When you get right down to it, we’re usually working hard to maintain a razor thin gap between Awareness and Action.

We’re practically immersed in “gap management.”

– achievement gaps,
– legislative mandate & funding gaps,
– costs & revenue gaps,
– and the gap between who “our students are today” and “the promise they hold for tomorrow.”

We even keep track of gaps during our off hours, too.

–  how far the Tigers are out of the playoffs,
–  the penalities the Lions commit compared to an average 7th grade team,
–  and the gap between what’s actually fun to eat and what’s green and healthy.

While I wish family members would let me battle my “gaps” alone and in peace, I’m don’t have that luxury.

My younger brothers love to remind me about the gaps in our ages.

My daughters love to point out the great distance I typically have to make up between “being clueless” and “having a clue.”

And don’t even get me started about Cindy.

Her omnipresent seeing is believing standard is always a pain.

For example.

I’m a school communicator.

I’m perfectly content to TALK about being less heavy.

Cindy isn’t.

She wants to SEE me less heavy.

How unfair is that I ask you?

And by now, you may be wondering about where all this “gap yap” is headed.

Fair enough.

I just thought I’d point out that Rick Kaufman, the premier school crisis response expert who also wrote NSPRA’s book on crisis communications, is a big time “gap closer.”

He’ll tell you that many of us – when it comes to leveling up our school crisis communications planning –  are way too comfortable with the real-world gap between IF and WHEN.

That is, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a school crisis to deal with sometime, it’s only a question of WHEN.

So IF you’d like some help on closing the school crisis response planning gap, here’s WHEN to take action.

Right now!

So sign up for the free 45 minute Lunchinar with Rick which will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

(And if you need more scoop about the Lunchinar itself, here ’tis.)

It’ll be rock-solid live streamed conversation.

Of course, I’m also hoping host Holly McCaw will seek out a different kind of expert in October.

I could sure use some tips for bridging the gap between “my talk” and my wife’s “sight.”

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